No India release for UK Oscar entry Santosh?

The makers of Santosh, a 2024 Hindi film directed by British-Indian filmmaker Sandhya Suri, which was the UK's international feature film submission to the Oscars 2025, have decided against its theatrical release in India citing extensive cuts and amends purportedly sought by the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC), according to media reports and people part of the crew.

- Anuradha Vellat

Set in rural north India, Santosh is a crime drama covering the murder of a young girl. The film is also written by Suri and stars acclaimed actors Shahana Goswami and Sunita Rajwar, with Goswami portraying a widow who inherits the job of her late husband as a police constable and Rajwar playing a hardliner senior inspector in the police force. To be sure, CBFC has not banned the film from releasing in India.

"They [the board] gave a long list of cuts at the end of January or early February that they wanted us to implement, and other than the cuts. Suri tried to see if these could be implemented but, there was no room for negotiations as the list was final," a key crew member told HT, asking not to be named. CBFC chairperson Prasoon Joshi did not respond to requests for a comment.